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Table 1 Baseline characteristicsa of street youth who inject drugs stratified by whether they ceased injection at any point during study follow-up: At Risk Youth Study (ARYS), Vancouver, British Columbia, 2005–2015 (n = 383)

From: Socioeconomic factors associated with cessation of injection drug use among street-involved youth

 

Ceased Injection Drug Useb

 

Yes (%) (n = 171)

No (%) (n = 212)

p Value

Sociodemographic characteristics

 Median age, years (IQR)

22 (20–24)

22 (21–24)

0.769

Gender

 Male

103 (60.2)

144 (67.9)

0.118

 Female

68 (39.8)

68 (32.1)

 

Ethnicity

 Caucasian

126 (73.7)

150 (70.8)

0.573

 Non-Caucasian

45 (26.3)

61 (28.8)

 

High school educationc

 Yes

59 (34.5)

62 (29.3)

0.281

 No

111 (64.9)

148 (69.8)

 

Drug use related factors

 Any heroin use

  Yes

114 (66.7)

175 (82.5)

<0.001

  No

57 (33.3)

37 (17.5)

 

Any prescription opioid use

  Yes

55 (32.2)

97 (45.8)

0.007

  No

116 (67.8)

115 (54.2)

 

Any crystal meth use

  Yes

116 (67.8)

162 (76.4)

0.061

  No

55 (32.2)

50 (23.6)

 

Any cocaine use

 Yes

78 (45.6)

97 (45.8)

0.978

 No

93 (54.4)

115 (54.2)

 

Any crack use

 Yes

113 (66.1)

131 (61.8)

0.385

 No

58 (33.9)

81 (38.2)

 

Mental health related factors

 Mental illness history

 Yes

104 (60.8)

138 (65.1)

0.388

 No

67 (39.2)

74 (34.9)

 

Childhood physical or sexual abuse

 Yes

116 (67.8)

142 (67.0)

0.933

 No

45 (26.3)

54 (25.5)

 

Depression

 Yes

75 (43.9)

105 (49.5)

0.057

 No

53 (31)

46 (21.7)

 

Socioeconomic factors

 Homeless

  Yes

121 (70.8)

160 (75.5)

0.305

  No

49 (28.7)

51 (24.1)

 

 Living with family

  Yes

20 (11.7)

26 (12.3)

0.865

  No

151 (88.3)

186 (87.7)

 

 Evicted

  Yes

18 (10.5)

25 (11.8)

0.664

  No

82 (48.0)

132 (62.3)

 

 Living in the Downtown Eastside

  Yes

64 (37.4)

82 (38.7)

0.802

  No

107 (62.6)

130 (61.3)

 

 Employed

  Yes

62 (36.3)

93 (43.9)

0.131

  No

109 (63.7)

119 (56.1)

 

 Loss of income assistance

  Yes

13 (7.6)

18 (8.5)

0.899

  No

108 (63.2)

157 (74.1)

 

 Accessed health care

  Yes

133 (77.8)

166 (78.3)

0.045

  No

38 (22.2)

46 (21.7)

 

 Incarcerated

  Yes

35 (20.5)

46 (21.7)

0.792

  No

135 (78.9)

166 (78.3)

 

 Sex work

  Yes

27 (15.8)

31 (14.6)

0.751

  No

144 (84.2)

181 (85.4)

 

 Dealt drugs

  Yes

86 (50.3)

108 (50.9)

0.899

  No

85 (49.7)

104 (49.1)

 

Prohibited street-based income generating activitiesd

 Yes

54 (31.6)

82 (38.7)

0.149

 No

117 (68.4)

130 (61.3)

 

Illegal income generating activitiese

 Yes

40 (23.4)

54 (25.5)

0.638

 No

131 (76.6)

158 (74.5)

 
  1. aCharacteristics reported at time of study enrollment
  2. bCells do not uniformly add up to column total due to missing values
  3. cPrior completion of or current enrollment in high school
  4. dProhibited street-based income generating activities included panhandling, recycling, and squeegeeing
  5. eIllegal income generating activities included theft, robbing, fraud, and other illegal actives excluding sex work and drug dealing